Craig Conroy

Lore & Background

Developed as a defensive specialist through much of his career, Conroy was twice a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward, and was nominated for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. He played over 1,000 games in the NHL. Conroy, who spent multiple productive offensive seasons with the Flames, is a former captain of the team and was twice honored by the organization for his leadership, dedication and humanitarian efforts.

Reader's Guide

An only child, Conroy was born and raised in Potsdam, New York. He attended high school at Northwood School. His father Mike played minor league hockey for the Syracuse Blazers and at the age of four years Conroy served as the team's mascot prior to games. Conroy followed in the footsteps of his father and two uncles in playing hockey at Clarkson University for the Golden Knights. He enrolled at Clarkson in 1990 and played four seasons for the school. During his junior season of 1992–93, Conroy scored two goals in a 5–3 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) semi-final to help lead his team to the conference championship game. Conroy reached 100 career points with the goals, joining his father Mike as the only such pair in Clarkson's history to reach that milestone. Conroy and the Golden Knights then won the ECAC title with a 3–1 victory over Brown University. The Golden Knights made Conroy a co-captain in his senior year of 1993–94. He led the ECAC in scoring with 66 points and was named to the conference's First All-Star Team, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) First All-Star Team and the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team. He was also a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as top player in the NCAA, finishing second to Chris Marinucci. His Clarkson jersey (number 7) was retired in a ceremony prior to a game against College of Holy Cross on October 20, 2012, in which he and his family attended.

Did You Know?

• At his first day of his first training camp with Montreal, he got into a fight with the team's star goaltender, Patrick Roy, after striking the latter with a slap shot in practice.
• Conroy scored his first career hat-trick on February 26, 1999, against the Calgary Flames.
• He was a co-captain of the Flames late in the 2001–02 season and the only captain in 2002–03.
• Conroy scored his 500th career point on January 3, 2009, when he assisted on Todd Bertuzzi's game-winning goal in a 3–2 win against the Nashville Predators.